[Webinar] The evolving influencer marketing industry
What makes someone influential?
Is it their follower count?
Or is it their passion?
According to consumers, it’s the latter. Long gone are the days when celebrity-level social media influencers gerner all of the attention. In today’s world, any and everyone has the power to influence their peers’ purchase decisions. In fact, 91% of consumers said they trust product reviews from random users on the internet just as much as a personal recommendation.
Yesterday, our Director of Marketing Strategy, Magda Houalla was joined by Abigail Sawyer, Blinds.com’s Social Media and Influencer Manager to discuss the evolving influencer marketing industry. The duo unpacked:
- The difference between the old model of influencer marketing and how brands need to shift to see success in today’s world
- Why expanding your definition of influence is critical to your success
- Tactical ways to evolve your influencer strategy to keep up the changing industry
If you missed the webinar, watch the recording below and continue reading for a quick recap of the live Q&A.
https://vimeo.com/473550199
Question: How do you ensure content quality when you’re working with people who may not be professional photographers?
Answer: [Abigail] Taking pictures of windows is incredibly hard. The biggest thing from us is working with people who already have some photography skills. We send specific tips and instructions to the people we work with such as lighting adjustments and lowering blinds halfway. We also like to get content reviewed and approved before it’s posted, which has been very helpful.
Q:Where does Youtube fit in your influencer strategy? Is the search ability on YouTube important to Blinds.com?
A: [Abigail] Because it’s the second largest search engine out there, we found that YouTube search results highly impact our other search results in Google. We have a YouTube manager who helps evaluate influencers’ existing YouTube channels to better determine if their videos will rank and potential; help with our SEO. When we work on YouTube, we ask creators to put our brand name in the title of the video and specific SEO keywords in their tags and descriptions, which has been a huge help.
Q:Can you elaborate a bit more on affiliate links please?
A: [Magda] Affiliate links are unique links given to each of your influencer partners. They can share this link across all of their channels and then get a predetermined commission payout that is based on the direct sales they have generated. Using affiliate links help brands figure out a reward structure for their ambassadors.
[Abigail] Using affiliate links makes it easier to track direct sales from influencer marketing. We’ve also found that affiliate links drive more sales, probably because influencers share those links more.
Q: What metrics do you find to be most valuable for proving the value of influencer marketing to your boss?
A: [Abigail] One way I’ve gotten buy-in for influencer marketing is showing my higher-ups that other brands they respect are investing in influencers. Trusted publications are writing about the benefits of influencer programs so it is easy to find content that proves its value. Additionally, team leads want to see hard metrics such as reach, engagement, site traffic, and of course revenue. Get creative with revenue if you can’t track yet. Calculate the savings on photo/video assets, look at media value of reach from TV or other media. Also show other benefits such as reviews on product pages, photos on your site, content shared on social, content for your blog, links for SEO, and more.
Q:What are some ways you can incentivize your network of influencers beyond payment?
A: [Magda] Depending on the value of your product, some influencers may be inclined to work for product alone. However, additional ways you can incentivize influencers include cross promotion if your brand has a large following on social media, invitations to exclusive events, or additional exposure by repurposing their content on your various marketing channels.